Saying goodbye...for now

I have waited a while to write this post for a couple of reasons.  One, moving is hard mentally, physically, and emotionally.  Keeping one home clean enough to show on a moments notice while preparing to move to another state is hard enough on its own.  Add to that seeing your husband only on weekends and trying to visit every person that is special to you and your children before leaving and you will begin to get the picture.  For a while we were in denial that the move would occur.  But as the weeks without Chris began to pass, we realized that we were ready to make the big move. 

This is our new home in Kansas.  It is beautiful, has a basement, is in a great neighborhood and a wonderful school district.  This definitely made the idea of moving a little more bearable.

The main reason we bought the house is the spacious backyard. it is flat, has a great play structure, and is surrounded by large trees. It feels like being on vacation when you have breakfast looking out the back window.

I made so many memories outside as a kid and our kids were becoming primarily indoor beings.  Hopefully this will change with such a welcoming backyard.

 

With that being said, we had a difficult task of saying goodbye to the friends, some of whom my girls had known since, well, forever.

We went to Salato with Sarah's friend London and his brother.  They had a blast.  We had only known London for a year, but Sarah developed a very sweet and special friendship with him almost immediately in preschool.

Saying good bye to Caden was especially hard for Sarah.  He was literally one of her first friends.  She has never known life without him.

Maura and Sarah have been "friends" since they were under six months old.  This was an especially hard goodbye due to my friendship with Julie as well.

 Saying goodbye to Pikeville and the grandparents was no easy task.  We know we will still see them often due to our many trips to the bluegrass for Chris's job, but we will not see the mountains as much as before.  Papaw is so good with the girls.  He is never afraid to roll around in the floor with the grand kids.  Sniff, sniff.

Leah adores being outside in the mountains as you can tell.  Hopefully this love of the outdoors will continue in Kansas.

Saying goodbye to "family", I mean neighbors is so difficult.  We watched Shelley grow into such a wonderful young woman.  She went from kid across the street, to babysitter, to surrogate family.  She even asked Sarah to be her flower girl in her summer wedding. 

Julie invited us over one more time for a luau party.  She has it every summer but bumped it up since we were leaving.  I will miss Julie and Dawn so much!

These kids have been friends forever.  I hope they always hold special places in each others hearts, even from afar.

Saying goodbye to Amy was perhaps the hardest goodbye.  We are more than blessed to have her in our lives. Both kids light up with they see aunt Amy.  We know she will visit us often in Kansas.  She loves these two like they are her own.

We were lucky to stick around long enough to attend VBS at North Lexington.  Sarah brought her two buddies to the event.  She loves Bible class here and I hope we can find something she likes in Kansas as well.

Saying goodbye to our local library is hard as well.  We have a great library in Scott county.  My girls enjoyed every visit. This will forever be "Leah's perch".

Sarah has climbed this caterpillar since she was a baby.  Sniff, sniff.

We will miss the reading nook as well.

Leah will so miss the steps in the front of the church building.  She spent many days getting in trouble for trying to run around on stage. :)

Leah, Papaw, and Alena taking a walk.  Leah and Alena were just getting to the age where they begin playing together.  They always seem to have a great time together.  I hope distance will not change that fact.

The girls from church invited me for a night out to say goodbye.  We have had a tradition of going out for birthdays for some time now.  I will miss our time "sans kiddos."

These are some of the first friends I made in Lexington many, many, years ago.  I am privileged to still be able to call them friends even today.

It was fitting that our last night out would be at Jalapenos, a restaurant that became a staple for all of us.  It is close to Chris's job and our old church building.  Much laughter and memories were made here.  I was so glad to get to go for one last hurrah with my girls.
As you can see, it is more than difficult to leave all of this behind for a place where we know NO ONE!  I firmly believe that God has a plan for us and we will see it unfold during our time in Kansas.  Luckily,these friendships may change, but they will never die.  I am truly blessed.  So I say goodbye...for now...